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Zach Pope

English 1101

Professor Richardson

November 19, 2018

Pitch Clocks In Baseball?

Baseball has been America’s pastime for as long as many can remember. It has

been there for people when other things around them have not. At one point, baseball was the

sport all the way around the world. It even made it to China and Japan. All of the sudden,

however, ratings, popularity, and revenue have decreased tremendously. Many people think this

is due to the length of the game. Others say that the game has little action and is not fun to watch.

However, a solution has been found; a pitch clock. A pitch clock would benefit the game as a

whole and would make the game a lot more interesting to watch. The speed of the game would

increase, which would draw fans into buying tickets to come. Also, more interest and revenue

would make the teams richer, which the teams could use to get better players. The MLB should

implement the pitch clock as soon as possible to increase revenue and popularity.

Baseball is one of the top sports in America. However, the money going in and out is

decreasing. Purchases from jerseys, tickets, and food at ballparks have all taken hits in the past

few years. The idea of enjoying a game with your family has vanished. The speed of the game

has ruined it. When families plan on going to a baseball game, the first thought is how long the

game is going to last. The time spent at the ballpark will keep families from buying tickets,

which means no money spent in the ballpark. The pitch clock could easily fix all those problems.

“People have been lamenting the forthcoming death of baseball for about as long as people have
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been playing baseball. The 2018 season has seen a league-wide drop in attendance, partly

because the Marlins and Blue Jays — the two clubs with the largest decreases — changed the

way they report and sell tickets, respectively.” (Berg). Also, Berg writes, “If baseball is really

invested in shortening games, it absolutely does not need to wildly alter the rules of the sport. It

needs a pitch clock, like it is already using — effectively — in minor league games.” The pitch

clock would effectively speed up the game without changing the rules of the game. With the

pace of play being increased, game times would decrease, and attendance would rise. Attendance

rising would bring in more money and raise the overall income for a team exponentially.

Baseball’s popularity has been high ever since it was invented in 1839. It is America’s

pastime, and it always will be. Baseball on a summer day with a hot dog in your hand has always

been written in the American ideology. However, since 2017, popularity has been rapidly

decreasing. The number of people who do not like baseball says, “It’s boring” or “It’s too long to

watch”. Honestly, I almost want to agree with them. I would rather watch paint dry than baseball

on TV nowadays. “The pace of the game has slowed by 11 minutes, and the average time

between “balls hit in play” was 3 minutes 45 seconds. That's the time spent watching deep

counts, throws over to first base and mound visits”(Everett). Almost 4 minutes between the real

action in the game. Also, “In their opening series, the Chicago Cubs struck out 41 times in three

games. The Philadelphia Phillies used 24 pitchers in their first three games, including a position

player. The pitching changes mean a lot of standing around, waiting around, not helping the 2018

version of Stark's 3 minutes 45 seconds.”(Everett). Due to these times, many people tend to stay

away from baseball and watch sports like basketball or football. “A look at Gallup’s numbers

show two negative trends for baseball. It is most popular with people over 55 years and is not
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getting good numbers in the 18 to 34-year-old and the 35 to 54-year-old categories trailing

football, basketball, and soccer by a substantial margin.”(Weiner). Young people are not

interested in the sport of baseball because of how long and boring it is. When baseball is on TV,

young people will switch over to another sport or even cartoons. Baseball has grown to be a

boring sport and many people even say it is headed toward death. A pitch clock would speed the

game up and make it more enjoyable to watch. People could not only watch baseball on TV, but

enjoy a game at the stadium.

Many people, however, are against the idea of a pitch clock. They feel that baseball is

perfect the way it is, and if people can not understand that, then they will not like the sport.

Players, especially, are against the new play clock rule. One player said, “But despite the

apparent mix of opinions, Twins second baseman Brian Dozier claims that the union is

unanimous in its opposition to the Commissioner’s proposals (i.e. the game clock and immediate

penalties of balls/strikes for non-compliance), and believes that the players just need to hold

themselves accountable: ‘It’s up to us as players, especially the more veteran guys, the leaders, to

make sure players aren’t taking 30 seconds to get up to the plate, listening to their walkup song,

or getting on and off the field.’”(Cerami). Also, a meeting was conducted among the player and

there was a common theme; “On the clock, itself, however, the responses ranged from ‘it

fundamentally changes the way the game is played,’”(Cerami). All these claims are true,

however, using a play clock has been done in the Minor Leagues and there was little effect to the

way the game was played. Greg Allen, a Major Leaguer who has experienced the pitch clock,

said, “‘At first, you're a little over-conscious of it, with it being so new,’ Allen said. ‘But the

more time that you spend with these game clocks, it becomes more of a normal aspect of the
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game. You don't pay attention to it too much.’”(Castrovince). The pitch clock being

implemented is not a big deal and will not affect the game too much. It will affect the pace of

play, but it will not be enough to cause an uproar from the players and fans. The game will be

sped up and unaffected which means the popularity of the game will come back.

Baseball has been around for 179 years. The game is an art. However, the game is losing

popularity and revenue. The pitch clock could be the perfect solution. Speeding up the game will

in turn, cause baseball to regain the popularity lost, and hopefully, gain new fans too. As more

fans accumulate, revenue will increase, solving all of the MLB’s problems. People dislike the

clock because it is “changing the game”, but overall a pitch clock would benefit the game a lot

more than hurt it.

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Works Cited

Berg, Ted. “A Pitch Clock Remains the Easiest and Best Solution for MLB's Real or Perceived

Pace-of-Play Issue.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 30 Aug. 2018,

ftw.usatoday.com/2018/08/mlb-pitch-clock-pace-of-play-game-length.

Everett, Seth. “Baseball Misses Mark With Pace-Of-Play Initiative.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 5

Apr. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/setheverett/2018/04/04/baseball-misses-mark-with-pace-of-

play-initiative/#1935644d6eef.

Castrovince, Anthony. “Opinions Differ on MLB Pitch Clock.” MLB.com, 19 Jan. 2018,

www.mlb.com/news/opinions-differ-on-mlb-pitch-clock/c-265068962.

Cerami, Michael. “MLBits: Players React Mostly Negatively to Pitch Clock, Reed's Deal, At

Age 30, McCutchen, More.” Bleacher Nation | Chicago Cubs News, Rumors, and Commentary,

22 Jan. 2018, www.bleachernation.com/2018/01/22/mlbits-players-react-mostly-negatively-to-

pitch-clock-reeds-deal-at-age-30-mccutchen-more/.

Weiner, Evan. “Baseball's Popularity Shows Another Decline In Gallup Poll.” Sports Talk

Florida - N, 31 Jan. 2018, sportstalkflorida.com/mlb/mlb-news/baseballs-popularity-shows-

another-decline-gallup-poll/.